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on Environmental Economics |
| By: | Carlo Carraro (University of Venice, FEEM and CMCC, Italy); Massimo Tavoni (FEEM and CMCC, Italy); Thomas Longden (FEEM and CMCC, Italy); Giacomo Marangoni (FEEM and CMCC, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses a set of new scenarios for energy markets in Europe to evaluate the consistency of economic incentives and climate objectives. It focuses in particular on the role of natural gas across a range of climate policy scenarios (including the Copenhagen Pledges and the EU Roadmap) to identify whether current trends and policies are leading to an economically efficient and, at the same time, climate friendly, energy mix. Economic costs and environmental objectives are balanced to identify the welfare-maximising development path, the related investment strategies in the energy sector, and the resulting optimal energy mix. Policy measures to support this balanced economic development are identified. A specific sensitivity analysis upon the role of the 2020 renewable targets and increased energy efficiency improvements is also carried out. We conclude that a suitable and sustained carbon price needs to be implemented to move energy markets in Europe closer to the optimal energy mix. We also highlight that an appropriate carbon pricing is sufficient to achieve both the emission target and the renewable target, without incurring in high economic costs if climate policy is not too ambitious and/or it is internationally coordinated. Finally, our results show that natural gas is the key transitional fuel within the cost-effective achievement of a range of climate policy targets. |
| Keywords: | : EU Climate Policy, Energy Markets, Gas Share, Carbon Pricing, Renewables Target |
| JEL: | O33 O41 Q43 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.86&r=env |
| By: | Moreaux, Michel; Withagen, Cees |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ler:wpaper:27148&r=env |
| By: | Irfan Ullah (Gomal University (Pakistan)); Mahmоod Shah (Gomal University (Pakistan)) |
| Abstract: | This paper has empirically analyzed the casual relationship between population growth and environmental degradation in case of Pakistan using time-series data from 1970 to 2010. Granger causality is employed for empirical assessment and the empirical findings reveal causal relationship between population growth and environmental degradation, indeed all the components of environment degradation like air degradation (AD), land degradation (LD) and water degradation (WD) are also mutually causing each other indicating multivariate causality. All of these findings imply that population growth is a major factor responsible for environmental degradation in Pakistan which imposes a burden on country’s limited resources. High fertility rate disrupted nature resources through increase in production and consumption level, improper industrial waste dumping and degradation of land resources etc. There is need of proper attention and government should adopt special policy in order to conserve environmental resources for future generation. |
| Keywords: | population growth, environmental degradation, Granger causality |
| Date: | 2013–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nos:zodgwl:e133irf&r=env |
| By: | Sven Rudolph (University of Kassel); Takeshi Kawakatsu (University of Kyoto); Achim Lerch (Hessian University of Cooperative Education) |
| Abstract: | Despite President Obama’s current interest in climate policy, market-based climate policy on the US federal level still appears to be deadlocked. The same is true for Canada, which has aligned its climate policy to the US. However, regional activities are more promising as British Columbia and California have started using market-based approaches recently. Against this background, the paper asks: Can state level market-based climate policy be a sustainable alternative or sup-plement to federal action? Which of the two programs does better in terms of fulfilling ambitious sustainability criteria? How can the programs be improved? In order to answer these questions, in a comparative fashion, the paper analyzes the design and the results of the British Columbia Carbon Tax and the California Cap-and-Trade Program and evaluates them based on sustainability criteria. By doing so, the paper provides a comparative evaluation of two North American sub-national level market-based climate policy programs, shows the significance and the challenges of such regional initiatives, identifies best-practice design elements, and provides recommendations for regional market-based climate policy design. |
| Keywords: | Climate Policy Instruments, Emissions Trading, Carbon Tax, USA, Canada, California, British Columbia |
| JEL: | D62 D63 Q48 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201345&r=env |
| By: | Herman R.J. Vollebergh (CentER and Tilburg Sustainability Centre, Tilburg University, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, CESifo); Edwin van der Werf (Wageningen University, CESifo) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to help policy makers identify how standards can contribute to the effective and cost-efficient development and deployment of eco-innovations (innovations that result in a reduction of environmental impact). To that end we discuss what standards are, how the process of standardization works, and how standards are related to induced innovation and diffusion in different type of markets, e.g. markets for add-on technologies versus markets for integrated resource- or emission-saving technologies. This broad perspective enables us to identify interesting economic dimensions of standards, such as their contribution to positive network externalities, and the extent to which they are substitutes or complements to environmental policy instruments. Finally we discuss how governments might contribute to eco-innovation by selecting, stimulating or creating (inter)national standards. |
| Keywords: | Standards, Technological Change, Eco-innovation, Environmental Policy Instruments |
| JEL: | Q38 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.74&r=env |
| By: | Longhi, Simonetta |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits a new large data source on environmental behaviours and attitudes of people living in the UK to analyse to what extent the household context affects pro- environmental behaviours at the individual and household levels. The results suggest that singles and people living in couples without children have higher pro-environmental behaviour than people living in couples with children. Individual pro-environmental behaviour is affected by partners attitudes and behaviours, and both partners are equally relevant for household decisions. The results also show a positive correlation between concerns about the environment and pro-environmental behaviours. |
| Date: | 2013–10–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2013-21&r=env |
| By: | Inge van den Bijgaart (Department of Economics, CentER, TSC, Tilburg University, The Netherlands); Reyer Gerlagh (Department of Economics, CentER, TSC, Tilburg University, The Netherlands); Luuk Korsten (Tilburg University, The Netherlands); Matti Liski |
| Abstract: | The social cost of carbon (SCC), commonly referred to as the carbon price, is the monetized damage from emitting one unit of CO2 to the atmosphere. The SCC is typically obtained from large-scale computational Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) that consolidate interdisciplinary climate research inputs to obtain a carbon price estimate relevant for policy-making. However, the climate economy interactions of IAMs remain inaccessible to scientists in general. Here we develop a simple closed-form formula that captures the key physical and economic determinants of the SCC in the IAMs. For a mainstream IAM, it explains over 99 percent of the within-model variation originating from structural uncertainties; in an inter-model comparison, the structural variation captured by the formula matches closely a SCC distribution of previous SCC estimates. The precise replication of the SCC estimates is strikingly free of details such as those on future policy and technology options, or even carbon concentration levels; the size of the current economy and the emissions-temperature-damage response are the dominant SCC determinants in the IAMs. The structural interpretation given allows decision-makers to disentangle the subjective and structural determinants of the carbon price. Structural uncertainties alone lead to a strongly right-skewed density with median 15 €/tCO2, mean 31 €/tCO2, and more than 5 percent probability for higher than 100 €/tCO2 for year 2015. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Carbon Price, Integrated Assessment Models, Uncertainty |
| JEL: | Q50 Q51 Q52 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.83&r=env |
| By: | Rhodes, M. Taylor (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the environmental impact of sporting events by analyzing a collection of small typically geographically isolated cities which host at least one NCAA football team that competes in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 2010. Fixed-effects regressions controlling for differences across cities and across months suggest that cities do experience an increase in pollution levels on and around game days relative to non-game days. These marginal increases were largest in November even after controlling for weather, various trends and other sources of seasonality. When hosting games in November, the corresponding percent increases in daily mortality ranged from .06 to .25% for cardiovascular mortality to .23 to .47% for respiratory mortality. |
| Keywords: | Pollution; Environmental impact; Sporting events; Mortality |
| JEL: | I18 L83 Q53 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2013–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2013_019&r=env |
| By: | Valentina Bosetti (Università Commerciale “L. Bocconi”, IGIER and FEEM); Marco Maffezzoli (Università Commerciale “L. Bocconi” and IGIER) |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first attempt, to the best of our knowledge, to study the impact of a carbon tax by means of a heterogeneous agents model. The objectives of the paper are two: i) To assess how the results of a representative agent model compare to those coming from a model accounting for heterogeneity across agents when evaluating aggregate economic and environmental impacts of a carbon tax; ii) To assess the distributional implications of a carbon tax (and equivalent cap) and how they can be mitigated through different recycling schemes or allocations. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Tax, Double Dividend, Heterogeneous Agents Model |
| JEL: | Q58 Q54 E2 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.72&r=env |
| By: | Francesco Silvestri (eco&eco Economia ed Ecologia Ltd. Bologna and Dept. of Economics and Marketing, University of Ferrara); Stefano Ghinoi (Dept of Statistics, Alma Mater Studiorum Bologna); Vincenzo Barone (eco&eco Economia ed Ecologia Ltd. Bologna) |
| Abstract: | Tourism and environmental preservation are often conflicting activities, mainly in areas such as coastal lagoons, where seaside mass-tourism comes into contact with a very sensitive ecological system. In this paper we deal with a classical problem of both environmental and tourism economics, the internalization of environmental costs of tourism, focusing on the nautical fruition of the Lagoon of Marano and Grado (North-Eastern Italy, Friuli Venezia Giulia Region). Using different instruments, both theoretical (Carrying Capacity framework, Polluter-Payer principle, Coase compensation) and empirical (Cluster analysis, Log-log regression, Forecasting model, cost and benefit calculation through actual market values), we get the result that a standard Coasian equilibrium (unit external cost equal to unit private benefit) doesn’t hold, and a higher coverage of the local berths endowment (i. e. a higher vessels transit in the Lagoon) is more effective for nature conservation than a tempered fruition. Another interesting result is that the best available solution to internalize environmental externality is a mixed one, comprehensive of a command and control rule (a speed-limit prescription), and a compensation scheme. |
| Keywords: | Tourism Carrying Capacity, Nature conservation, Externalities, Empirical studies |
| JEL: | Q01 Q26 Q57 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.73&r=env |
| By: | Thomas, Timothy S.; Ponlok, Tin; Bansok, Ros; De Lopez, Thanakvaro; Chiang, Catherine; Phirun, Nang; Chhum, Chhim |
| Abstract: | Cambodia has been identified as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, given the predicted changes in temperature and precipitation, the share of labor in agriculture, and the country’s low adaptive capacity due to widespread poverty. In this study, we use climate data from four general circulation models (GCMs) to evaluate the impact of climate change on agriculture in Cambodia by 2050. We used the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer crop modeling software to evaluate crop yields, first for the 1950–2000 period (actual climate) and then for the climates given by the four GCMs for 2050. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Adaptation, Agriculture, General Circulation Models GCM, Crop yields, Droughts, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1285&r=env |
| By: | Roberto Antonietti (Department of Economics and Management “Marco Fanno”, University of Padova, Italy); Alberto Marzucchi (Department of International Economics, Institutions and Development (DISEIS), Catholic University of Milan, Italy and INGENIO (CSIC-UPV), Spain) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we empirically investigate the relationship between investments in environmentally-oriented equipment and firms’ export performance. Drawing on Porter hypothesis and firm heterogeneity theory, we adopt a structural model where first we estimate the impact of green investment strategies on the level of productive efficiency (TFP), and second we assess whether induced productivity influences the extensive and intensive margin of exports. Relying on a rich firm-level dataset on Italian manufacturing, our results show that firms with higher productivity, induced among other factors by green investment involving environmental protection and reduction in the use of raw materials, have increased commitment to, and profits from, exports, especially towards countries adopting a more stringent environmental regulatory framework. Our evidence provides a ‘green investment-based’ explanation for the link between TFP-heterogeneity and trade. |
| Keywords: | Exports, Firm Heterogeneity, Green Investment Strategy, Total Factor Productivity |
| JEL: | Q55 Q56 F14 F18 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.76&r=env |
| By: | Ebru A. Gencer (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Central America and the Caribbean is one of the most hazard-prone regions in the world. In addition, the region is heavily affected by poverty, unemployment, critical management of natural resources, and urban conglomeration in capital cities, especially in the Small Island Developing States, increasing vulnerability and risk to natural disasters and climate change. This paper examines characteristics of urban vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change in the Central America and the Caribbean Region. It argues that even though the region is not vast in size, the diversity within creates different characteristics of vulnerability to natural disasters and thus requires an extensive variety of disaster risk reduction approaches and adaptation techniques. |
| Keywords: | Urban Vulnerability, Disaster Risk, Central America, the Caribbean |
| JEL: | Q5 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.78&r=env |
| By: | Elena Claire Ricci (Università degli Studi di Milano, Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) |
| Abstract: | adoption of “Smart Energy Behaviour”. Within this term we include different levels of: i) shift in electricity consumption towards less costly-less polluting and congestioning hours; ii) the reduction of mainly wasteful electricity consumption, that maintains similar levels of comfort; iii) the enrolment in demand response programs; iv) electricity generation via residential micro-photovoltaic (PV) systems. These behavioural changes are triggered by the installation of advanced metering systems and a tariff policy that prices electricity according to time-of-use. The context analysed is that of Italy, where the largest diffusion of smart meters has taken place. We perform a set of 2500 simulations of our model with stochastic parameters to take into account the uncertainty in their estimation, to find that on average consumer involvement may induce on aggregate a shift in residential electricity consumption of 13.0% by 2020 and of 29.6% by 2030; and reduction in residential electricity consumption (just by reducing wasteful consumption) of 2.5% by 2020 and 9.2% by 2030. These consumption changes may have strong impacts on the system operating costs (in the order of 380 M€/y by 2020, 1203 M€/y by 2030), on the CO2 emissions (in the order of 1.56 MtonCO2/y by 2020, 5.01 Mton CO2/y by 2030), confirming the value of consumer participation. |
| Keywords: | Smart-Grids, Demand Response, Demand Management, System Dynamics, Consumer Choices, Climate Policy |
| JEL: | C61 Q42 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.71&r=env |
| By: | Elena Claire Ricci (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Italy) |
| Abstract: | We assess the optimality of investments in power grid innovation, under both technological options of Super and Smart Grids, using the WITCH model in the version that includes Super-Grids. Super Grids allow producing and trading of electricity generated by large scale concentrated solar power (CSP) plants in highly productive areas that are connected to the %demand centres through High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cables. We extend the model to include also Smart-Grids that allow: i) to increase the share of renewable power manageable by the power network, ii) to reduce the costs of customer relationships via Smart Meters; iii) residential consumer to generate electricity via micro-photovoltaic plants, and iv) residential consumer to generate virtual electricity via consumption management. We find that it becomes optimal to invest in grid innovation, in order to start gaining the management benefits and taking advantage of consumer generating opportunities (of electricity and “nega-watts”), starting in 2010 and to exploit the increased possible penetration of renewable energy sources from 2035. Long-distance CSP generation becomes optimal only from 2040, and trade from 2050; but it reaches very high shares in the second half of the century, especially when penetration limits are imposed on nuclear power and on carbon capture and storage operations (CCS). On the whole, climate policy costs can be reduced by large percentages, up to 48%, 34%, 24% for the USA, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, respectively, with respect to corresponding scenarios without the grid innovation via Super and Smart Grid option and with limits on nuclear power, CCS, and CSP import. The analysis is then extended to compare these options considering, at least qualitatively, the differentiated impacts on the environment, technology, organization, society, local and national economies and geopolitics. |
| Keywords: | Smart-Grids, Climate Policy, Integrated Assessment, Renewable Energy, Residential Power Generation, Demand Side Management Concentrated Solar Power, Super-Grids, Electricity Trade |
| JEL: | C61 Q42 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.84&r=env |
| By: | Goebel, Jan (DIW Berlin); Krekel, Christian (DIW Berlin); Tiefenbach, Tim (German Institute for Japanese Studies); Ziebarth, Nicolas R. (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of the Fukushima disaster on people's mental well‐being in another industrialized country, more than 5000 miles distant. The meltdown significantly increased environmental concerns by 20% among the German population. Subsequent drastic policy action permanently shut down the oldest nuclear reactors, implemented the phase‐out of the remaining ones, and proclaimed the transition to renewables. This energy policy turnaround is largely supported by the population and equalized the increase in mental distress. We estimate that during the 3 months after the meltdown, Fukushima triggered external monetized health costs worth â¬250 per distressed citizen â particularly among risk averse women. |
| Keywords: | Fukushima, meltdown, nuclear phase‐out, mental health, environmental worries, SOEP |
| JEL: | I18 I31 Z13 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7691&r=env |
| By: | Melissa Dell; Benjamin F. Jones; Benjamin A. Olken |
| Abstract: | A rapidly growing body of research applies panel methods to examine how temperature, precipitation, and windstorms influence economic outcomes. These studies focus on changes in weather realizations over time within a given spatial area and demonstrate impacts on agricultural output, industrial output, labor productivity, energy demand, health, conflict, and economic growth among other outcomes. By harnessing exogenous variation over time within a given spatial unit, these studies help credibly identify (i) the breadth of channels linking weather and the economy, (ii) heterogeneous treatment effects across different types of locations, and (iii) non-linear effects of weather variables. This paper reviews the new literature with two purposes. First, we summarize recent work, providing a guide to its methodologies, data sets, and findings. Second, we consider applications of the new literature, including insights for the “damage function” within models that seek to assess the potential economic effects of future climate change. |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19578&r=env |
| By: | Laura Diaz Anadon (Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA); Gregory Nemet (Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), University of Wisconsin, and La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin, USA); Elena Verdolini (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and CMCC, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Characterizing the anticipated performance of energy technologies to inform policy decisions increasingly relies on expert elicitation. Knowledge about how elicitation design factors impact the probabilistic estimates emerging from these studies is however scarce. We focus on nuclear power, a large-scale low-carbon power option, for which future cost estimates are important to designing energy policies and climate change mitigation efforts. We use data from three elicitations in the USA and in Europe and assess the role of government Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) investments on expected nuclear costs in 2030. We show that controlling for expert, technology, and design characteristics increases experts’ implied public RD&D elasticity of expected costs by 25%. Public sector and industry experts’ costs expectations are 14% and 32% higher, respectively than academics. US experts are more optimistic than their EU counterparts, with median expected costs 22% lower. On average, a doubling of public RD&D is expected to result in an 8% cost reduction, but uncertainty is large. The difference between the 90th and 10th percentile estimates is on average 58% of the experts’ median estimates. Public RD&D investments do not affect uncertainty ranges, but US experts’ are less confident about costs than Europeans. |
| Keywords: | Nuclear Power, Uncertainty, Returns to RD&D, Expert Elicitations, Meta-Analysis |
| JEL: | O3 Q5 Q55 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.85&r=env |
| By: | Jonathan Colmer (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | How does future income uncertainty affect child labour and human capital accumulation? Using a unique panel dataset, we examine the effect of changes in climate variability on the allocation of time among child labour activities (the intensive margin) as well as participation in education and labour activities (the extensive margin). We find robust evidence that increased climate variability increases the number of hours spent on farming activities while reducing the number of hours spent on domestic chores, indicating a substitution of time across child labour activities. In addition, we find no evidence of climate variability on enrolment decisions or educational outcomes, suggesting that households may spread the burden of labour across children to minimize its impact on formal education. |
| Keywords: | Climate Variability, Child Labour, Schooling |
| JEL: | D13 O12 J13 J22 Q54 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.81&r=env |
| By: | Igor Ferraz da Fonseca; Raimer Rodrigues Rezende; Marilia Silva De Oliveira; Ana Karine Pereira |
| Abstract: | Este Texto para Discussão apresenta os resultados e as conclusões mais importantes de uma pesquisa aplicada que visou identificar os principais fatores que influenciam o potencial de efetividade das audiências públicas, no âmbito do Poder Executivo federal, como mecanismo de participação social no processo de gestão das políticas públicas. Para tanto, a partir de metodologia qualitativa, o trabalho contou com quatro estudos de caso de audiências realizadas por órgãos do governo federal: a elaboração do Plano Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos (PNRS); a discussão das minutas do Edital de Licitação e Contrato de Permissão dos Serviços de Transporte Rodoviário Interestadual de Passageiros; e o licenciamento ambiental de dois grandes projetos de usinas hidrelétricas – Santo Antônio e Jirau, em Rondônia, e Belo Monte, no Pará. Os resultados da análise empírica apontam fatores que influenciam a efetividade das audiências. Esta análise teve por objetivo fornecer subsídios para gestores públicos responsáveis pela organização e realização destes processos participativos, bem como para estudiosos envolvidos com o tema. This article presents the main results and the main conclusions of an applied research that aimed to answer the following question: “within the Federal Executive Branch, what are the main factors that impact the potential of effectiveness of public hearings as a mechanism of social participation in the management process of public policy?”. For this purpose, and through the use of qualitative methodology, the research relied on four case studies of hearings held by Federal Government agencies: the preparation of the National Solid Waste Management Plan; the debate on the drafts of the bidding terms and conditions, and regarding the contract of permission to exploit Interstate Bus Services; and the environmental licensing of two major hydroelectric projects – Santo Antônio/Jirau, in the state Rondônia and Belo Monte, in the state of Pará. The results of the empirical analysis point out factors that influence the effectiveness of the hearings. This analysis aimed to provide subsidies for public managers responsible for organizing and conducting these participatory processes, as well as for scholars concerned with the issue. |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1873&r=env |
| By: | Komatsu, Masayuki (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the current status of fisheries and aquaculture in Southeast Asia and international trade. Analysis concludes that a policy of sustainable management for both capture fisheries and aquaculture is of greatest importance, but such a policy has been neither planned nor implemented with a holistic and long-term perspective. Current policy reflects a short-term view and the immediate needs of each nation. Therefore, capacity building of human resources and organizations, including governments, is needed for the formulation of holistic national policies to seek long-term and fundamental remedies for the sustainable management of fisheries resources and intensified and extensive aquaculture. |
| Keywords: | international trade; fisheries; development of natural resources; aquaculture southeast asia |
| JEL: | O13 Q22 |
| Date: | 2013–10–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0438&r=env |
| By: | Anna Alberini (AREC, University of Maryand, USA College Park, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Italy and Centre for Energy Policy and Economics (CEPE) at ETH-Zürich, Switzerland); Will Gans (Consultant with NERA, USA); Charles Towe (AREC, University of Maryand, College Park, USA) |
| Abstract: | We use a unique dataset that combines the responses from an original survey of households, information about the structural characteristics of their homes, utility-provided longitudinal electricity usage records, plus utility program participation information, to study the uptake of energy efficiency incentives and their effect on residential electricity consumption. Attention is restricted to homes where heating and cooling are provided exclusively by heat pumps, which are common in our study area—four counties in Maryland—and were covered by federal, state and utility incentives during our study period (2007-2012). We deploy a difference-in-difference study design. We find that replacing an existing heat pump with a new one does reduce electricity usage: the average treatment effect is an 8% reduction. However, the effect differs dramatically across households based upon whether they receive an incentive towards the purchase of a new heat pump. Among those that receive the purchase incentive, the effect is small or nil, and indeed, the larger the incentive, the smaller the reduction in electricity usage. Those that do not receive incentives reduce usage by about 16%. Our results appear to be driven by the numerous free riders in our sample and by persons who—inferred from their responses to survey questions—might be exploiting the subsidy to purchase a larger system and increase usage, with no emissions reductions benefits to society. |
| Keywords: | Energy Efficiency, Household Behavior, Energy Efficiency Incentives, Electricity Usage, Rebound Effect, Free Rider |
| JEL: | Q41 D12 H3 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.82&r=env |
| By: | Francisco Cabo; Katrin Erdlenbruch; Mabel Tidball |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the dynamic interaction between two regions with interconnected river basins. Precipitation is higher in one river- basin while water productivity is higher in the other. Water transfer increases productivity in the recipient basin, but may cause environmental damage in the donor basin. The recipient faces a trade-o between paying the price of the water transfer, or investing in alternative water supplies to achive a higher usable water capacity. We analyze the design of this transfer using a dynamic modeling approach, and compare solutions with dierent information structure with the cooperative solution. Contrary to standard games, where decision variables dier among players, we assume that both players take the decisions concerning the water transfer. The equilibrium between supply and demand determines the optimal transfer price and amount. If the problem were set as a static game, the non-cooperative solution would match the cooperative solution. However, in a more realistic dynamic setting, in which the recipient uses a feedback information structure, the cooperative solution will not emerge as the equilibrium solution. The transfer amount is lower than in the case of cooperation, while the investment in usable water capacity is higher. Finally we numerically compare our results to the Tagus-Segura water transfer described in Ballestero (2004). |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lam:wpaper:13-09&r=env |
| By: | Izabel Rigo Portocarrero (Centro de Estudios Brasileños - Universidad de Salamanca) |
| Abstract: | En Brasil, el bioetanol, juntamente con el bagazo de la caña, representa el 18,1% de la oferta interna de energía, lo que lo califica como la segunda mayor fuente de energía en una matriz energética compuesta por un 45% de energías renovables, mientras que la media mundial llega al 14%. Se considera al modelo productivo del bioetanol brasileño el más sostenible entre los biocarburantes de primera generación, y el único capaz de mantenerse en el mercado tras la emergencia de las futuras generaciones de biocarburantes. Entre tanto, en el contexto de la Unión Europea, debido a la limitada disponibilidad de recursos de biomasa para la producción de biocarburantes y a los ambiciosos retos establecidos en la Directiva 2009/28/CE para su utilización como fuente de energía renovable, se prevé un aumento acentuado de las importaciones y, por consiguiente, la ascensión de los mercados internacionales en este sector, lo que supone una importante oportunidad para el bioetanol brasileño. No obstante, dicha Directiva estipula criterios de sostenibilidad relacionados con potenciales impactos ambientales y prevé la aplicación de regímenes de certificación voluntarios para garantizar la observancia de estos criterios en la cadena de producción de los biocarburantes. Se pueden utilizar e importar biocarburantes que no cumplan estos criterios, pero su comercialización será poco viable en la medida en que los precios de esta fuente de energía son considerablemente superiores a los de los combustibles fósiles y, por lo tanto, poco competitivos en la ausencia de incentivos. Esa es la razón por la cual se puede considerar a estos últimos como una forma de proteger a los agricultores europeos de la competencia extranjera por medio del establecimiento de patrones de sostenibilidad tendenciosos. En este sentido, la presente investigación identifica las circunstancias en que estos regímenes de certificación, formalmente orientados a garantizar la sostenibilidad ambiental de los procesos de producción de biocarburantes, podrían suponer barreras no arancelarias al comercio del bioetanol brasileño. Este análisis, que involucra el comercio de biocarburantes en el mercado internacional, tiene como marco teórico los acuerdos de la Organización Mundial del Comercio. |
| Keywords: | Brazil; Agroindustry; Biofuels; Sugarcane; Environmental Impact; Uses of soil; Greenhouse effect; Certification; WTO; European Union |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00875174&r=env |
| By: | Janet Currie; Joshua S. Graff Zivin; Jamie Mullins; Matthew J. Neidell |
| Abstract: | Pollution exposure early in life is detrimental to near-term health and an increasing body of evidence suggests that early childhood health influences health and human capital outcomes later in life. This paper reviews the economic research that brings these two literatures together. We begin with a conceptual model that highlights the core relationships across the lifecycle. We then review the literature concerned with such estimates, focusing particularly on identification strategies to mitigate concerns regarding endogenous exposure. The nascent empirical literature provides both direct and indirect evidence that early childhood exposure to pollution significantly impacts later life outcomes. We discuss the potential policy implications of these long-lasting effects, and conclude with a number of promising avenues for future research. |
| JEL: | I1 I12 J24 Q5 Q53 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19571&r=env |
| By: | Gérard GAUDET; Pierre LASSERRE |
| Abstract: | We provide an analytical overview of the distortionary eects of some common forms of taxes faced by the nonrenewable resources sector of the economy. In the category of taxes meant specifically to capture the resource rent, we look at a specific severance tax, an ad valorem severance tax, a profit tax and a "lump-sum" tax, with emphasis on their effects on the extraction decisions over time and on the initial reserves to be developed. In the category of taxes meant for all sectors of the economy, we look at the corporate income tax and its special provision for the resource sector in the form of a depletion allowance, with emphasis on the effects on the intra-industry resource extraction decisions and on the inter-industry allocation of investment. |
| Keywords: | Nonrenewable resources, taxation, neutrality, distortion, resource rent, capital allocation |
| JEL: | Q31 Q38 H21 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtl:montec:15-2013&r=env |
| By: | Christopher Kaminker; Osamu Kawanishi; Fiona Stewart; Ben Caldecott; Nicholas Howarth |
| Abstract: | This report is structured in three chapters. The first chapter examines the channels through which institutional investors can access green infrastructure, assesses the extent to which this is currently happening, and identifies the barriers to scaling up these investment flows. The second chapter presents four case studies: on utility-scale solar PV power generation in the United States, sustainable agriculture in Brazil, off-shore wind energy in the United Kingdom, and the securitisation of on-shore wind farms in Germany and France. The third chapter uses the conclusions on the case studies to draw out broader lessons for governments on the policy settings which may support investment in green infrastructure by institutional investors. These include, inter alia, ensuring a stable and integrated policy environment, addressing market failures, providing an infrastructure road map, facilitating the development of appropriate green financing vehicles, and promoting market transparency and improved data collection. L'investissement institutionnel dans les infrastructures vertes : Études de cas Le présent rapport est divisé en trois chapitres. Le premier étudie les possibilités offertes aux investisseurs institutionnels pour financer des infrastructures vertes, l’étendue de l’expérience acquise à ce jour ainsi que les obstacles à la multiplication de ce type d’investissements. Le deuxième chapitre présente quatre études de cas relatives à la production centralisée d’électricité photovoltaïque aux États-Unis, l’agriculture durable au Brésil, l’énergie éolienne off-shore au Royaume-Uni et les centrales éoliennes terrestres en Allemagne et en France. De ces études de cas, le troisième chapitre tire des conclusions générales concernant la conception de politiques favorisant l’investissement institutionnel dans les infrastructures vertes. Il préconise notamment de créer un cadre d’action stable et harmonieux, d’éliminer les défaillances du marché, d’établir une feuille de route de la construction d’infrastructures, d’encourager la mise au point de mécanismes appropriés de financement verts et, enfin, d’améliorer la transparence des marchés et la collecte des données. |
| Keywords: | infrastructure, insurance companies, pension funds, green bonds, green growth, obligations vertes, fonds de pension, infrastructure, croissance verte |
| JEL: | G15 G18 G23 G28 J26 |
| Date: | 2013–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:dafaad:35-en&r=env |
| By: | Andries Richter (Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Norway); Johan Grasman (and Statistical Methods, Wageningen University, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | Experimental and observational studies have highlighted the importance of agents being conditionally cooperative when facing a social dilemma. We formalize this mechanism in a theoretical model that portrays a small community having joint access to a common pool resource. The diffusion of norms of cooperation takes place via interpersonal relations, while individual agents face the temptation of higher profits by overexploiting the resource. Agents remain conditionally cooperative, unless other individuals are misbehaving already. We can observe a bubble of conditional cooperators slowly building up followed by a sudden burst, which means that a transition from a cooperative social norm to non-cooperation occurs. Interestingly, in some parameter regions alternative stable states and limit cycles arise. The latter implies that the same community goes through such a transition repeatedly over long time spans – history thus repeats itself in the form of the creation and erosion of social capital. |
| Keywords: | Common Pool Resource, Conditional Cooperators, Social-Ecological Complexity, Social Capital, Social Norms |
| JEL: | C73 D70 D64 Q20 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2013.80&r=env |
| By: | Hammitt, James; Rheinberger, Christoph |
| Abstract: | Assessing the welfare impact of consumer health advisories is a thorny task. Recently, Shimshack and Ward (2010) studied how U.S. households responded to FDA’s 2001 mercury-in-fish advisory. They found that the average at-risk household reduced fish consumption by about 24%, resulting in a 21%-reduction in mercury exposure at the cost of a 28%-reduction in cardioprotective omega-3 fatty acids. A rough assessment of the health costs and benefits led Shimshack and Ward to conclude that the advisory policy resulted in an overall consumer welfare loss. In this note, we propose a more comprehensive assessment that links the long term cardiovascular health effects of the advisory policy to life cycle consumption. In addition to mortality risk, our model values the loss in health quality from non-fatal cardiovascular diseases. Using the same dose-response relationships as Shimshack and Ward, we find that the expected health and mortality loss to the average at-risk household is much larger than they suggested. The analysis highlights the importance of accounting for dynamic effects when evaluating persistent changes in exposure to environmental health risks. |
| Keywords: | Food safety, mercury, fatty acids, policy analysis, excess lifetime risk |
| JEL: | I18 I38 J17 P36 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ler:wpaper:27221&r=env |
| By: | Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt; Nancy Holman |
| Abstract: | Conservation areas (CAs) are among the most restrictive English planning policies. Designation implies a significant limitation of owners' control over the shape and appearance of their properties. The policy, however, can also be argued to solve a sort of 'prisoners' dilemma', in which it might be collectively rationale to preserve the character of an area, but an individual homeowner may be tempted to inappropriately alter their property, thus free-riding on nearby properties' character. The net-benefit of the policy depends largely on the existence of positive 'heritage effects' and acknowledgement from homeowners that policy contributes to neighbourhood stability and the preservation of these positive effects. Our results of a mixed-method analysis of close to 1 million property transactions near to about 8000 CAs and 111 interviews with residents in nine representative CAs in Greater London suggest that positive heritage externalities exist and that residents in CAs tend to value their local environments, acknowledge the need for planning control and execute their right to object to neighbour's planning request. |
| Keywords: | Designation, England, Heritage, Property Value, Prisoner’s Dilemma |
| JEL: | R52 D23 C7 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0145&r=env |
| By: | Ana Karine Pereira |
| Abstract: | O governo de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva marcou a retomada da postura estatal de forte indutor do crescimento econômico a partir do investimento em obras variadas de infraestrutura, algo evidenciado com o lançamento do Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC), em 2007. Essa atuação estatal encontra paralelo no governo Vargas e, principalmente, nos governos autoritários das décadas de 1970 e 1980, quando o Estado planejou a construção de hidrelétricas, a pavimentação de rodovias etc. Entretanto, o contexto atual é radicalmente diferente, sendo caracterizado por um arranjo político-institucional que envolve múltiplos atores nos processos decisórios e de implementação de políticas públicas, além de ser marcado pela presença de instrumentos de interação entre Estado e sociedade civil e por uma legislação ambiental que torna mais rigorosa a aprovação de empreendimentos com impacto ambiental. Este artigo se propõe a analisar a atuação contemporânea do Estado brasileiro a partir do estudo do encontro entre ativismo estatal e democratização. Para tanto, é realizado um estudo comparativo entre o arranjo político-institucional do passado – que se insere em um contexto de desenvolvimentismo e autoritarismo político – e o arranjo atual a partir do estudo de duas hidrelétricas planejadas para a Amazônia brasileira, Tucuruí e Belo Monte. Conclui-se que o arranjo atual proporciona a explicitação e a defesa de interesses variados, o que justifica a superioridade técnica dos projetos de hidrelétricas atuais. Entretanto, o arranjo atual não é capaz de processar os conflitos que emergem do embate entre interesses divergentes, o que tem causado a judicialização dos processos decisório e de implantação de hidrelétricas e a baixa legitimidade desses projetos. Essa dificuldade de conciliar interesses é explicada pelas diferenças existentes entre os ramos estatais envolvidos na construção de grandes hidrelétricas: a capacidade decisória se concentra em órgãos com pouca abertura política, enquanto a capacidade participativa é característica de órgãos com baixa capacidade decisória. A metodologia utilizada neste artigo é variada e inclui entrevistas a atores-chave e análise documental. The election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva marked Brazil’s resumption of “big government” intervention in the economy, particularly through investment in a variety of infrastructure projects, as evidenced by the launch of the Growth Acceleration Program in 2007. Historically, such infrastructural projects were typical of the Vargas government and were especially common during the Authoritarian Period (1964-1985), when the State planned to build hydroelectric dams, to pave roads, etc. The current context is radically different, however, being characterized by a political and institutional arrangement that involves multiple stakeholders in the decision and implementation process of public policies, and is marked by a close relationship between State and civil society and by environmental legislation that makes the approval process of projects with environmental impact more rigorous. This article aims to analyze the performance of the contemporary Brazilian state by studying the encounter between state activism and democratization. We conduct a comparative study between the political and institutional arrangement of the past, characterized by dictatorship and developmentalism; and the current arrangement of democracy and developmentalism. This comparative analysis is based on the study of two large dams planned to the Amazon, Tucurui and Belo Monte. We conclude that the current arrangement stimulates the defense of a variety of interests, which explains the technical superiority of the current hydroelectric projects. Nevertheless, the current arrangement is not able to organize and conciliate the conflicts that emerge from the clashes of divergent interests, which have caused the judicialization of the decision and implementation process of dams and also the low legitimacy of these projects. The difficulty to conciliate interests is explained by differences between state branches involved in the construction of large dams: the decision-making capacity is concentrated in state agencies that are politically closed whereas the participatory capacity is concentrated in state agencies with low decisional capacity. The methodology used in this paper is varied and includes interviews with key political actors and documental analysis. |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1884&r=env |
| By: | Amigues, Jean-Pierre; Lafforgue, Gilles; Moreaux, Michel |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ler:wpaper:27149&r=env |
| By: | María José Paz Antolín (Departamento de Economía Aplicada I - Universidad Complutense de Madrid); David Silva Gutiérrez (Departamento de Economía Aplicada I - Universidad Complutense de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | La implementación de "nuevas" estrategias económicas en América Latina se ve fuertemente condicionada por la herencia neoliberal generando una dialéctica caracterizada por elementos de cambio y de continuidad. Partiendo de este supuesto, nuestro trabajo se centra en analizar el impacto de esta herencia en un eje considerado crucial en estas nuevas estrategias, la industrialización a partir de los recursos naturales. Tras caracterizar estas estrategias industrializadoras en el sector de hidrocarburos y tomando como referencia tres países de la región (Bolivia, Brasil y Ecuador) se identifican los principales elementos de continuidad con las políticas de ajuste neoliberal que, según concluimos, están limitando el grado de avance del proceso industrializador. |
| Keywords: | Latin America; Bolivia; Brazil; Ecuador; Natural Resources; Oil; Gas; Production; Economic Policy; Industrialization |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00875197&r=env |
| By: | Patrick Gonzalez |
| Abstract: | The State may tax the extraction of a public natural resource in different ways. I consider the relative performances of a fixed fee, an ad valorem tax and a rent tax when the State must receive a minimal revenue for exploitation to take place. Taxing the resource may lower the probability that a firm will extract the resource. I show that the performance of each tax depends on the expected value of the resource: when it is high, the rent tax brings more revenue to the State; when it is low, the fixed fee is efficient while the rent tax does poorly. For an intermediate value, the ad valorem tax may bring the highest expected revenues among the three although it is always dominated by an hybrid tax that combines the latter two. |
| Keywords: | Rent, Royalties, Mining, Extraction Industry |
| JEL: | L71 H23 H25 Q34 Q38 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:creacr:2013-6&r=env |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Given the expected growth of the bioplastics sector and the stress put on the development of bioplastics in some of the bioeconomy strategies that are currently emerging across the globe, it is timely to review some of the policy implications associated with their development and use, the types of policy instruments that could play a part in the creation of a supportive environment for bioplastics, and the range of policies currently in use that affect their production, diffusion and use. |
| Date: | 2013–10–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaac:10-en&r=env |